New Seasons Market: A clean, well-lighted place.

Stickers that document 11 years of New Seasons runs. The friendliest store in town.

This weekend, I was reminded by a dear friend with whom we broke bread (it was actually challah from Baker and Spice) that I was remiss in my postings. With such fervor for months, and then a hiatus like the last 6 weeks, one would think I was a slacker. But it’s not true. I was simply saving all my good quips for this post. Glad you could join us, you haven’t missed a thing.

As we continued to dine on drunken brisket (a recipe I am sure my friend will share, for a price) I was rebuked for not only days of empty blogging, but also for one very specific post I had promised so long ago…a summary of how to navigate New Seasons Market with an eye for value, saving and serenity.  I can tell you that my experience with the store is both deep and wide. I have ventured to all 10 of these local establishments and each provides its own unique experience to its frequenter. If you are an East Coast reader (long time listener, first time caller…) I want you to open up a browser window and go to the store website: http://www.newseasonsmarket.com. It will allow you to sip from the chalice and get a flavor for the store that I am not only going to narrate, but also pontificate about to all of  you. (They offer delivery, but not to Massachusetts. Sorry, Kenny.)

As with any retail establishment designed to turn a profit (which this one is), the key to business is to continuously reinforce a natural connection with customers. In business since 1999, New Seasons Market currently serves as a model for other neighborhood grocery stores around the area and the country that all strive for an authenticity of belonging that consists of more than asphalt to street corner. Self dubbed, “The Friendliest Store in Town,” the New Seasons stores all wear the moniker as a self-inflicted tattoo. The tag line is gleefully displayed from under a rolled up work shirt sleeve, bearing a well earned stain of elbow grease. (Who wouldn’t be a little ripe after the team puts in so much effort on a daily basis to maintain their position in the hearts of over 12,000 “likes” on Facebook?)  Any store that has people thanking it for coming to their neighborhood is either giving out gold at the door, or smiles at the register. We who shop there have all grown to expect the latter and feel that it’s worth its weight in the former.

OK, I am sure it is clear there is a love affair here. I can assure you that if the world at large went about treating me as well as New Seasons, I would win the Guinness Book of World Records for hugging strangers. There are, as you all know,  a number of thresholds that any retailer needs to pass, with me, in order to get to my wallet. My hard-earned salary is locked up tighter than a drum. Each dollar squeaks as it slips from my billfold. The pennies don’t jingle as they pass hands, they cry out for freedom from my tight grip. Let’s face it, it takes a lot to impress me, and it takes even more to get me to shell it out. Many of you may also shop New Seasons and I am eager to hear your stories of why and how. To kick off all of this communal “kumbaya” for a store that consistently receives 30-50% or more of my food wallet weekly, I share with you now the Clutch Saver’s process and philosophy on getting the most out of a New Seasons Market experience.

The key for me in the spending department is always and remains, bargain hunting. People are inherently lazy, especially about finding a deal (not all of you, of course who are currently slogging away through this post, for which, by the by, I commend you). Effort is a key differentiator between me and the masses. As you know, I work for my savings – with pleasure and an elephant rifle at my side. At New Seasons I find it a game to look for the items both on sale and some not on sale, where the prices “beat” Winco. As you all know, I shop at Winco SO THAT I CAN SHOP AT NEW SEASONS. I usually hit both stores in a morning (remember, I am getting to Winco early to avoid much of the humanity). New Seasons is usually the second stop on the gravy train. This type of “line up” allows me to compare and contrast many of the same, key items that they both carry. Now honestly, I can’t compare everything because there a delta as big as the ole’ Mississip herself between the quality of the perishables at Winco compared to the New Seasons stores. At Winco I shop the middle (and it’s limited to things like canned goods and Torani SF Vanilla Syrup). At New Seasons I shop the walls (Weight Watchers would be so proud) where freshness blooms at every turn, (you should see the produce wall at Hawthorne – it’s a tight bouquet of colors). Bargains can be found on things like organic bananas – they are 20% cheaper at New Seasons and brown rice as well (in bulk). You will also find the organic milk at a bargain price at New Seasons for $2.99 a 1/2 gallon and see Winco ringing in at $3.39. Another area of savings is herbs… you need to buy bundles at Winco, but you can buy simply an ounce or less if needed at New Seasons. (You’ll feel like you picked it with tweezers, not by the fistful.) These, my friends, are “everyday values” and not even sale prices. When there are sales we all benefit at New Seasons.  The key is to think fresh, know what you need, and understand that what you are getting from New Seasons is potentially better for you, more sustainably produced, and in a number of cases as cheap or cheaper than basement prices.

Spoiler Alert: not everything is less expensive at New Seasons and I don’t want to misinform. You will pay more at the register for many items at New Seasons compared to a discount grocer, but what you end up with in your bag and in your heart is worth the extra jingle you spend.

The “why” I shop at New Seasons can be summed up in this way – it’s part of my repertoire of retail because of my love for community and quality. I love to feel a part of a larger entity and to help build it. I explore these opportunities through my charity work and through my job as a team builder and member. But, as you may know, I am also a stickler who squeaked all the way, but in the end put in a Dacor cooktop because I wanted the “best” and for it to “last”.  I am the same one who refused “Made in China” china, and instead bought Fiestaware (orange is my color {just like New Seasons}, if you’re ordering a piece for me, say, as a birthday gift.) I buy what will last, I purchase what is the best and I adore what is genuine. New Seasons, as a store, provides me with the opportunity to buy food that will help my family last, and to spend time with some of the most dedicated and best people I have ever met in a store (and not in my house for dinner… yet…). The locations offer me the chance to experience, time and time again, what it means to be part of a community that is, as they say, friendly.

And deep down, in an unconnected world where electronics connect us but not handshakes, connection is what we all want (even in Lake Oswego, where everyone quickly shuts their garage doors.) It’s what the people in NE – at the Concordia store feel when they huddle around Sarah at the Samples bar to share a school or snow story. It’s the honest heartfelt care that Cameron at the Mountain Park store gives me when I ask a nutritional question. It’s the swiftness of foot that meat counter Roy at Happy Valley displays when asked a question to which he needs an answer.  It’s the friendships one can make (and have made) with Corey (Seven Corners) and Daniel (Hawthorne) that transcend, no matter which store they transfer to.

Truthfully, to know where it stems from, for me, is to know why it grew so deeply. The kernel of my relationship in this retail romance started from a ritualized, Sunday morning visit to the Sellwood store so long ago (2001 I think). This was where I first heard the manager get on the loud-speaker and tell his employees at 8:01am…”OK everyone, please drink your water, do your stretches, have a great day, and remember…I love you.” I heard it every morning I was there. I knew he meant it. Ans even today, I feel the love as I walk through the aisles, talk to the people, and feed my soul on the very nutrition of nurture that surrounds me. I feel a part of it all; it’s my community.

So this is the reason I go, and it’s the reason I return. And to be fair, it’s the reason I just paid $7.99 for a pound of frozen blueberries (that and because Mitch guilted me into getting the Willamette Fruit Company brand because they are down right better than freezer burned purple nuggets of anti-oxidants.)

I need not say any more on the subject except… please meet me for coffee there and we can swap stories and smiles with everyone we meet. It’s the friendliest store in town that’s worth every penny.

About these ads